THEN, at the time when the great earth shakes, THE
FOUR-FOLD MULTITUDE/ that is, the Upasakas, Upasikas, Bhiksus and Bhiksunis. the four-fold
assembly of disciples, REJOICES ALTOGETHER/ This is the Portent of the Rejoicing
of the Assembly. IN BODY AND IN MIND ENRAPTURED/ THEY OBTAIN WHAT THEY HAD NEVER
HAD/ "Enraptured" means extreme happiness In the past they had never
been as delighted and happy. They
obtain what they never had before.

Sutra:

THE BRIGHT LIGHT FROM BETWEEN THE BROW!

SHINES INTO THE EASTERN QUARTER,

CAUSING EIGHTEEN THOUSAND LANDS

ALL TO BECOME OF GOLDEN HUE.

AND FROM THE AVICI HELL

UPWARDS TO THE PEAK OF BEING.

WITHIN EACH OF THESE WORLDS ARE SEEN

THE BEINGS WITHIN THE SIX PATHS.

THEIR DESTINIES IN BIRTH AND DEATH,

THEIR KARMIC CONDITIONS, GOOD OR EVIL,

THEIR RETRIBUTIONS, FAVORABLE OR
ILL--

ALL OF
THIS IS SEEN.

Commentary

THE BRIGHT LIGHT FROM BETWEEN THE BROWS/The white
hair-mark, located between Sakyamuni Buddha's eyebrows, emits a great bright
light, which SHINES INTO THE EASTERN QUARTER/into the East. CAUSING EIGHTEEN
THOUSAND LANDS/ALL TO BECOME OF GOLDEN HUE/

AND FROM THE AVICI HELL/The avici hell is the lowest
point in existence, called the "uninterrupted" hell. UPWARDS TO THE
PEAK OF BEING/There are three realms of being, earlier discussed as the three
realms of existence

1) Being (or existence) in the world of
desire

2) Being (or existence) in the world or form;

3) Being (or existence) in the formless world.

The
"Peak of Being" refers to the Heaven of Neither Perception nor
Non-perception, which is the fourth of the Four Stations of Emptiness.
Basically, it is located in the formless realm and thus cannot be represented,
as being of any particular color nevertheless, Sakyamuni Buddha now emits light
which shines all the way up to the top of the formless heavens.

WITHIN EACH OF THE WORLDS ARE SEEN/ THE BEINGS WITHIN THE
SIX PATHS/In all worlds, within limitless Buddhalands, the path of the gods, the
path of human beings, the path of asuras, the path of hell-beings, the path of
animals, the path of hungry ghosts, all are seen. They have already been
explained.

THEIR DESTINIES IN BIRTH AND DEATH/Within the six paths,
living beings are

Born and then they die; they

Die and then are born'

Birth, birth, death--

Death, death, birth--

--Death, birth,

Birth, death--

They spin around in the revolving wheel of the six paths
of rebirth.

Although at present you are a human being in this world,
don't assume that you will always be so. If your actions are good, you may be
assured of keeping a human body, but if you do evil deeds, you will lose it.

What will you become?

Haven't I already told you? You may go to hell, become a
hungry ghost, or turn into an animal.

THEIR KARMIC CONDITIONS, GOOD OR EVIL/ Perhaps your deeds
are good, or perhaps they are evil. Goodness has its good karmic conditions and
evil has its evil karmic conditions, but the deeds are done and the karmic
conditions are created by you alone. It is said,

Good and evil are two diverging roads.

You can cultivate the good or commit crimes.

"Cultivate" means to practice the Way.
"Commit" means to create offenses. There is a good road and a bad road
it's up to you to choose which on you will walk. If you walk down the good road,
you'll create good karma. If you
walk down the evil one, you will create evil karma.

THEIR RETRIBUTIONS, FAVORABLE OR ILL/Good and evil refer
to conditions on the causal ground. If you plant good causes you will receive
favorable recompense. A favorable retribution means that every goes along with
your heart, nature, and will. An unfavorable retribution goes contrary to your
heart and will. Favorable and ill refers to the fruit (effect) brought about by
prior actions. If you plant good seeds (causes), you'll reap favorable fruit
(effect); if you plant seeds of evil, you'll reap an ill fruit.

ALL OF THIS IS SEEN/The turning wheel of the six paths'
interrelated processes of creating karma and undergoing retribution is all seen
within the Thus Come One's white hair-mark light.

Sutra:

FURTHER ARE ALL THE BUDDHAS SEEN,

THE LIONS, THE SAGELY MASTERS,

EXPOUNDING ON THE SUTRA SCRIPTURES

OF FOREMOST SUBTLETY AND WONDER.

Commentary:

The Buddhas are seen as well. Among sages, they are the masters, and so
the text says, FURTHER ARE ALL THE BUDDHAS SEEN/THE LIONS, THE SAGELY MASTERS,
EXPOUNDING ON THE SUTRA SCRIPTURES/They expound the Great Vehicle Sutras which
are OF FOREMOST SUBTLETY AND WONDER/It is truly the #1 rare wonderful Dharma.

Sutra:

CLEAR AND PURE IS THE SOUND,

OF THEIR SOFT, COMPLAINT VOICES,

TEACHING ALL THE BODHISATTVAS,

NUMBERING IN THE COUNTLESS MILLIONS.

THE BRAHMA SOUND, PROFOUND AND WONDROUS,

FILLS THOSE WHO HEAR WITH JOY,

AS WITHIN HIS WORLD EACH ONE

PROCLAIMS THE
PROPER DHARMA.

Commentary

CLEAR AND PURE IS THE SOUND/The sound of the Buddhas is
extremely clear and bright. The phrases they utter are very fluent and lively
and perfect. OF THEIR SOFT. COMPLIANT VOICES/Their voices are both resonant and
soft, compliant and beautiful. The sound pleases the ear and delights the heart
of the assembly. According to whatever kind of sound each person likes to hear,
the Buddhas' voices take on that quality.

TEACHING ALL THE BODHISATTVAS/All the Buddhas teach and
transform all the Bodhisattvas. NUMBERING IN THE COUNTLESS MILLIONS. Their
number cannot be known. There are countless myriads of millions of them.

THE BRAHMA SOUND. PROFOUND AND WONDROUS/The clear, pure
sounds are extremely deep and fine. FILLS THOSE WHO HEAR WITH JOY/The more
people hear it, the more they enjoy hearing the Buddhadharma. AS, WITHIN HIS
WORLD EACH ONE/PROCLAIMS THE PROPER DHARMA/All the Buddhas, residing in their
own worlds, expound upon the proper Dharma, the genuine Buddhadharma.

Sutra:

THROUGH VARIOUS CAUSES AND CONDITIONS,

AND LIMITLESS ANALOGIES,

THEY CLARIFY THE BUDDHADHARMA,

TO ENLIGHTEN LIVING BEINGS.

TO THOSE
WHO'VE ENCOUNTERED SUFFERING,

WEARY OF SICKNESS, AGING, DEATH,

THEY SPEAK ABOUT NIRVANA

WHICH BRINGS ALL SUFFERING TO AN END.

TO THOSE POSSESSED OF BLESSINGS
WHO'VE

MADE OFFERINGS TO PAST BUDDHAS AND

RESOLVED TO SEEK THE SUPERIOR DHARMA,

THEY SPEAK OF ENLIGHTENING TO CONDITIONS

TO THOSE WHO ARE THE BUDDHAS SONS,

WHO CULTIVATE VARIOUS PRACTICES,

SEEKING WISDOM
UNSURPASSED,

THEY SPEAK THE WAY OF PURITY.

Commentary:

THROUGH VARIOUS CAUSES AND CONDITIONS/People are not the
same. They have varying dispositions, and so when teaching the Dharma, the
Buddhas employ various types of causes and conditions to teach them and cure
them of their differing bad habits and faults.

AND LIMITLESS ANALOGIES/Limitless means they cannot be
counted. The Buddhas use an uncountable number of analogies to teach the Dharma,
all for the sake of leading living beings to understand the genuine Buddhadharma
and to cultivate in accord with it.

So the text says, TO CLARIFY THE BUDDHADHARMA/How do they
clarify it? They use wisdom to
illumine the Buddhadharma; they use the bright light of wisdom to bring about
the understanding of all the Buddhadharmas.

TO ENLIGHTEN LIVING BEINGS/They cause all living beings
to gain increasing wisdom and Bodhi. It's like digging a mine. The mine contains
gold, but unless you find a way to dig it out, the gold will not appear. The
Buddha-nature is inherent in the self-nature of living beings, but unless you
explain it to them clearly, they will not under stand their inherent
Buddha-nature and they will be unable to cultivate it.

TO THOSE WHO'VE ENCOUNTERED SUFFERING/Although common
people suffer, the more they suffer, the more they like it, and the more they
suffer, the more suffering they encounter. Basically, affliction is the root of
the suffering common people undergo, but they don't want to cast their
afflictions aside. They wish to keep the communication link between themselves
and their afflictions open. They can't separate from afflictions, they can't
separate from the causes and conditions of their suffering. So the more they
suffer, the more they must suffer. When their suffering reaches its extreme
point, they fall into the hells where they suffer eternally, without ever
obtaining happiness. That's the way it is with common people.

Those of other religions who encounter suffering are
unable to find a path, which will lead them out. They cultivate and uphold the
methods of their religions, but are unable to end suffering. They continue to
undergo suffering, and although it is not as intense as that in the hells, they
may still run off to become hungry ghosts if they are not careful. Those of
other religions cannot ultimately end suffering.

There are also people who are intelligent and clever and
who have a bit of worldly wisdom. They have a thorough understanding of mundane
dharmas, but they do not understand transcendental dharmas. So when they run
into the causes and conditions of suffering, they have no way to bring them to
an end. Wishing to end suffering,
they only succeed in running into more suffering. Do you know how they think? They think, "Perhaps I shall rob someone
of his money and then I won't have to suffer poverty." Because this kind of
person has a small measure of wisdom he knows how to cheat people. He catches
someone off-guard and sneaks off with his wealth or takes it by force. In spite
of the fact that he is "wise," other people also have wisdom. He may
think that he can get away with his clever tricks, but eventually he sets off a
burglar alarm. The police get the call and take him to jail. If the crime is
minor, his time in the pokey may not be long; for a heavy offense, he may be in
longer. So it is that he receives his retribution in the world of people.

What about the future? People like this cannot end
suffering. Where do they go?

In the future they may become animals. There are various
causes and conditions, which cause one to fall into the hells, to turn into a
ghost, or to become an animal. I'm simply mentioning some of them, but these are
not the only ones. There are all manner of causes and conditions which can cause
one to fall into the three evil paths and endure suffering there. So the text
says, "To those who've encountered suffering/"

WEARY OF SICKNESS, AGING, DEATH/Fundamentally, there are
Three Sufferings, Eight Sufferings, and all the limitless sufferings.

Of the Three Suffering, the first is the suffering within
suffering. The second is the
suffering of decay, which grows out of happiness. Originally there was no
suffering, there was happiness, but the happiness decayed. Happiness cannot last
for long, and when it goes it turns into the suffering of decay.

The third is the suffering of process, which is always
present. There may be neither the suffering within suffering nor the suffering
of decay, but still there is the suffering involved in the life process as one
goes from youth to the prime of life to old age. The constant flux in thought
after thought is like the action of waves on the sea. When the first wave
disappears, the next one takes its place, and yet another follows it. No one can
avoid the suffering of process.

Those are the Three Sufferings.

And now we will look into the Eight Sufferings. The first
is the suffering of birth.

"But when I was born I didn't know what was
happening," you may think. "How
could that be considered suffering?"

You didn't know what was happening? It's just that you
don't know that betrays the intensity of the suffering. You just don’t
remember, that's all. And later on,
because of the suffering of birth, you will be forced to endure the suffering of
old age.

What is the suffering of birth?

When children are born they cry, making the sound (in
Chinese) k'u! k'u!, which is also the way the Chinese word for suffering(
-k'u) sounds.
Their cries say, "This world is truly full of suffering, suffering,
suffering." Although at the time they cry they are suffering, later on they
forget. They forget the suffering, get caught up in the flow of life and forget
to return to their original home. They think, "This world isn't bad."
In the beginning they knew it was suffering, but after they are three years old,
they forget their suffering.

Forget what suffering?

When a child is still in its mother's womb, he feels like
he's inside a volcano if she eats hot things. If she eats cold things, he feels
like he's in the hell of ice, freezing cold. But there is no way he can speak up
and object to these problems. As he is born, he feels like he's being squeezed
between two mountains. What is more, while in the womb the child was never
exposed to the atmosphere. At the moment the air hits his body, he feels as if
he were being slashed with knives. And so he screams, "K'u!'
Suffering!" That's the suffering of birth.

Having forgotten the suffering of birth, during his prime
he doesn't feel particularly troubled, but once he gets old, his eyes refuse to
help him, his ears refuse to work, and so do his teeth. He can't see or hear
clearly and having lost his teeth, he can't appreciate the taste of his food.
This is the second suffering, that of the suffering of old age.

Getting old in itself is not all that bad, but once old,
he can't walk anymore and has to lean on a crutch to get around. When he walks,
his legs won't listen to his orders. He may want to take a step, but his legs
are lazy and refuse to move. It takes a great expenditure of energy to take a
single step. Would you say that this is suffering or not? Not many years before,
when he sent down an order, his six sense organs all obeyed promptly, but once
he got old, they refused to obey orders. But even that can't really be
considered suffering. If you have a bit of skill in being patient, you won't
feel that it is suffering.

The suffering of sickness, the third, however, is
definitely frightening. Sickness is most democratic. From an emperor, president,
king, or great official, to the lowest beggar and stupidest wretch, no matter
who you are, if you get sick you will feel that you have lost your freedom.
Forced to stay in a hospital and follow the doctor's orders, you'll feel that
sickness is even more suffering. There are many kinds of diseases and many kinds
of suffering to go along with them. But even these are not as frightening as the
most extreme form of suffering, the suffering of death.

There is no suffering greater than that of death, the
fourth of the Eight Sufferings. Birth, old age, sickness, and death are all
suffering, and birth and death are the extremes. Death and birth involve the
same kind of suffering. Dharma Masters of the past have said that birth is like
ripping the shell from a live tortoise, and death is like skinning a live cow.
Would you call this suffering or not?

We study the Buddhadharma precisely because we wish to
end birth and death and escape from the revolving wheel, to avoid the sufferings
of birth, aging, sickness and death. The Sutra text says, "If there are
people who have encountered suffering and grown weary of aging, sickness, and
death..." The suffering of birth is also included in these lines.

Not only do we face the sufferings of aging, sickness,
and death, but during our lives there are also-haven't I told you this before?
the suffering of being separated from what one loves, the fifth of the Eight
Sufferings. "Ah: "you
say. "I really love that person." Maybe you are a man who loves a
woman or a woman who loves a man. You love each other and this makes you happy.
But you have to part, you suffer.

"I can avoid that kind of suffering," you
think. "If it's the suffering of being separated from what I love, I will
simply never leave.

Wherever my loved one goes, I will follow. If the one I
love runs to the ends of the heavens I will follow him there, if he runs to the
moon, I'll go to the moon; if he runs to the sun, I'll follow him. Wherever he
does, I will go."

You will? When he dies, will you go along with him?

"Yes," you say, defiantly, "I'll go with
him."

If you do, then you'll suffer. But if you don't go with
him, you endure the suffering of being separated from what you love. Either way,
you'll suffer. It just doesn't work out. That's a brief discussion of the
suffering of being separated from what one loves.

The suffering of being around what one hates is the
sixth. "I just basically hate that person," you say. Perhaps it's even
your wife. You may be really dissatisfied with her, but she loves you so that
she follows you wherever you go. Or perhaps you say, "I can't stand that
friend of mine. I've got to
get away from him." But when you move to another city, you make another
friend who turns out to be exactly like the first. This is called "the
suffering of being around what one hates." Those with whom you have no
affinity, you grow to detest. But, the way fate would have it, when you leave
that person and go somewhere else, you run into someone exactly like him. The person you left behind was half a pound, and the person you meet
turns out to be eight ounces--no more, no less--exactly the same. That's the
suffering of being around "What one hates.

There is yet another kind of suffering, the seventh, the
suffering of not getting what one wants. You may want to get rich, but you're
always poor. You may want to become an official, but you're always a clerk. You
may want a good wife, but you can't find one. You may want a good husband, but
you can't find one. You can't get what you want, and you brood on it from
morning to night, causing yourself endless affliction. Why? Because you can't
get what you seek. Because you can't get it, you suffer even more, to the point
that insomnia strikes. You toss and turn; you roll over on one side, but you
can't get to sleep; you roll over on the other side, and still can't get to
sleep. From dusk till dawn, you
don't sleep a wink, and the next morning your eyes are uncomfortable, your body
tired, and you feel listless. Would you say this is suffering or not?

"I don't suffer in that way," you say, "I
am not greedy to get rich, to become an official or to find a good wife or
husband. I don't want anything at all, and so I do not suffer. What is more, I
don't hate or love anyone. So I don't endure suffering, do I?"

Your body is subject to the tricks played on it by the
five skandhas, form, feeling, thought, activity, and consciousness. They rattle
around in your body, hopping back and forth all day long, driving you to the
point that you haven't even the time to take a breath. Form, feeling, thought,
activity, and consciousness are the five skandhas. No one can avoid the last of
the Eight Sufferings, the suffering of the raging blaze of the five skandhas; it
is a very extreme form of suffering.

Those are the Eight Sufferings. So much suffering! How
can you bring it to an end?

THEY SPEAK ABOUT NIRVANA/Because of all this suffering,
the Buddhas teach the Dharma of Nirvana. What is this? "Nir" means not
produced, and "vana" means not destroyed. It is to teach you not to be
attached. Seek instead the supreme Way and attain the happiness of Nirvana,
where there is no birth and death. Without birth and death, you will have ended
the Three Sufferings, the Eight Sufferings, and all the limitless sufferings all
of them will have come to an end. You will have attained permanence, happiness,
true self, and purity, the Four joyful and blessed Virtues of Nirvana WHICH
BRINGS ALL SUFFERINGS TO AN END/If you obtain Nirvana, you will have exhausted
the limits of all suffering. There will be no more suffering.

TO THOSE POSSESSED OF BLESSINGS WHO'VE/The text speaks
here of people who have cultivated the Way and MADE OFFERINGS TO PAST BUDDHAS
AND/ in the past they made offerings to the Triple Jewel. If you would like to
avoid suffering, then make offerings to the Triple Jewel. In the presence of the
Triple Jewel, perform acts of merit and virtue, but when you do, don't say,
"I gave money to the temple. What did they spend it on?" You shouldn't
ask. You shouldn't pay attention to
how the offering is used. You plant your own blessings and don't worry about
what is done with your offering. If you make offerings to the Triple Jewel, do
everything within your power to seek blessings and wisdom before them.

How does one seek blessings? To foster merit and virtue
is to cultivate blessings.

How does one seek virtue? Study the Buddhadharma.
Listen to Sutra lectures, and read and recite Sutras. This will develop your
wisdom. The text says, "To those possessed of blessings/" Why do they
have blessings? Because, in the past, they made offerings to the Buddha, the
Dharma, and the Sangha.

RESOLVED TO SEEK THE SUPERIOR DHARMA/They are determined
to go on, to make progress, to seek the superior Dharma. Superior means
"special," a special kind of Buddhadharma.

THEY SPEAK OF ENLIGHTENING TO CONDITIONS/The Buddhas
teach them the Dharma of the Twelve Conditioned Causes, the Dharma of those
Enlightened to Conditions. The Twelve Conditioned Causes have been discussed
many times and there's no time to go into them today, so they won't be
explained, but merely listed. They are:

1. Ignorance, which conditions

2. Action, action which conditions

3. Consciousness, consciousness which conditions

4. Name and form, name and form which conditions

5. The six sense organs, the six sense organs

which condition

6. Contact, contact which
conditions

7. Feeling, feeling which conditions

8. Craving, craving which conditions

9. Grasping, grasping which conditions

10. Becoming, becoming which conditions

11. Birth, and birth which conditions

12. Old age and death.

Those of the Vehicle of Conditioned-Enlightened Ones, one
of the Two Vehicles, cultivate the Dharma of the Twelve Conditioned Causes.

TO THOSE WHO ARE THE BUDDHAS' SONS/WHO CULTIVATE VARIOUS
PRACTICES/ SEEKING WISDOM UNSURPASSED/ THEY SPEAK THE WAY OF PURITY. To those
who seek the most lofty wisdom, the Buddhas explain the Way of purity, the Six
Crossings over, the Paramitas.